FLORENCE, SC – Eight students from the Pee Dee have been selected to take part in a special program hosted by Florence-Darlington Technical College’s Continuing Education Program.
Mathew Lenke is the IT Training Manager for the college, but this month he is taking on a new role as a computer program director for at-risk high school students.
This is the first year of the program, and Lenke says it gives students opportunities they probably wouldn’t have otherwise.
“Many of them won’t have a computer at home. So, not only to be given something, but to learn how to create it, how to work with it, it is a really humbling opportunity,” said Lenke.
The three week program allows students to build their own computer, learn troubleshooting techniques, and even become certified to work with certain software.
Anea Gause is a recent Mullins High School graduate, and she says the skills she learns in the program will go with her in the future.
Lenke says the computers used in the program don’t just hold lessons the students will learn in the classroom. After the program, they will be able to take the computers home, and that’s very important to students like Gause.
Gause says she’ll be attending the University of South Carolina this fall, and before, she didn’t have a computer to take with her.
“I didn’t have my own. So, you know, it’s really exciting to be able to take my own to college,” said Gause.
She is one of eight students who were hand-selected in the Pee Dee to be a part of the program, and she says she recognizes this opportunity.
“I really just want to say thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, for the donations and everything. It really gives me a chance to learn more and experience more and just have great opportunities like this one,” said Gause.
Lenke says the skills these students learn will help them wherever they go, and that they hope to make this a yearly opportunity in the future.
The project is funded by the Pee Dee Regional Council Investment Board and the Workforce Investment Act Program. They say this summer program is an opportunity to partner with Florence-Darlington Technical College to invest in the future of young students.
